He Prime Minister Calls for Economic Order Meeting Arab Region's Requirements

Doha, April 18 (QNA) - HE Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani has called upon the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries to formulate a model of an economic order coping with the reality and requirements of the region which is in dire needs to ensure a long- term growth process.
This came in a speech by HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister before the opening session of the Arab Banking Conference ,2011 and which was read out on his behalf by HE Governor of Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saud Al Thani.
HE the Prime Minister stressed the need to take into account a set of key matters foremost reforms on condition reform should start from the inside and especially in the arab countries , a few number of which are holding low rates within polls taking into account transparency , governance and combating corruption noting however that among the causes of the political crisis the arab region passes through, are corruption, unemployment and high cost of living.
In his speech , HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister made clear that unemployment is soaring to a great extent in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region and amounts to 10 % , which is more higher than world rates. The unemployment among the youth category is the highest level which doubles the world level, HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister told the audience .
The MENA countries have to provide 18 million job in the ten years to come to absorb the increasing numbers of new comers into the labour market , the Qatari Premier and Foreign Minister said underlining meantime that the matter is very dangerous unless the economic growth level records high rates in these countries above the present rates.
Warning against the high costs of living worldwide , HE Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani referred to the food high price and its inflational repercussions on a number of countries in the region owing to their limited financial abilities, the matter which would make it difficult for a large portion of the peoples of the region to provide their daily food.
HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister further said that holding the banking conference of 2011 under the slogan " A New Vision for Economic Reform" is the most suitable at the current phase. He attributed that to the necessity in the near future to put the right foundations in place that will help polarize the applicable strategic policiess with a view to achieving balanced economic growth.
The Prime Minister stressed the need for polarizing a new economic vision in view of the failure of the current ones due to the sharp global economic crisis which severly affected the world countries over the past three years. He said that work must begin on an economic model that can avoid such crises in the future, and it should also stimulate productivity and innovation.
He said that giving absolute freedom to the market has proved its irrelevance, especially as it brought down huge losses on the global economy which retracted 0.6% in 2009.
HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani added that despite strong efforts from a number of countries in reform by spending large sums into the financial markets for support, however this, according to the Prime Minister, is yet to yield balanced Economic growth and a noticeably lower unemployment rates as reports indicated that more than 30 million jobs have been lost world-wide due to the aforesaid economic and financial crisis.
In his speech read out by QCB governor HE Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saud Al Thani , HE the qatari prime minister and foreign minister further said that there is an almost non-existent ability to pursue expansionary fiscal policies because of the soaring rise rate in the level of sovereign debt for a large number of developed countries, the matter which recently prompted some of them to ask for financial support. However in contrast a number of countries in Asia , Latin America and the Cooperation council for the arab states of the gulf (GCC) are developing a good growth.
The conference will address other axes entitled ,'' technological developments, risks and challenges and governance in arab banks and financial institutions, and expansion of islamic banking.'' It will also tackle the openness experiment and the economic and institutional diversification in the State Of Qatar.
The conference brings together a number of representatives of the banking and investment corporations and institutions in the arab region including Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank , Qatar Financial Center and the the Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce , Jordan's Banks' Society , Egypt's Banks'Union ,Al Ahli United Bank,Bahrain, the Arab Monetary Fund and the Union of Arab Banks.
The past few decades have witnessed successive Arab calls for economic reform, whereby the reform experiences in the Arab countries during these decades have been slow in most cases, reserved for the most part, and waning in others.
Nowadays, the matter of economic reform has gained large consensus and persistence for its launch, considering that reform has become the base for economic openness, an important element to enhance the investment. Environment and the solid foundation that paves the way for sustainable economic and social development in the Arab region. In addition, enhancing the reform process has become a vital necessity to facilitate the process of the desired economic integration.
For this, our conference will present an ideal platform for Arab financial institution particularly amidst the recent fall which struck many of them, and shed light on its implications, in order to open the door for dialogue and discussions. In addition to the abovementioned mentioned, it reveals providing the opportunity for coordination between joint Arab unions operating under the umbrellas of the League of Arab states and financial institutions operating in the private sector.
The conference aims to bring together an elite assembly of experts to contribute in creating an Arab outlook for economic reforms in order to face the economic and social challenges, benefiting from important panels of discussion steering all economic sectors particularly the banking reforms imposed by the implications of the crises that the Arab region is witnessing.
The conference is aimed at create a dialogue platform for Arab financial institutions to present the current implications and developments in the Arab world , enhance dialogue between joint industry unions operating under the umbrella of the League of Arab States and private sector financial institutions to comply with the recent changes and developments in the Arab region, create a new Arab vision for economic reforms within an integrated work environment ,shed light on the new approaches for economic reform and its social contents ,present the significance of human development as a strategic objective from the economic reform process,
coordinate efforts of Arab countries in international ventures, and cooperate as a unified entity to cope with the current evelopments on the local, regional and international fronts.
The Beirut -Based Union of Arab Banks comprises more than 325 institutions and has other external offices in a number of Arab states the matter which makes it the largest banking and financial center in the region.(END)